But right now, obviously, change is in the air. And Melendez’s teammates have even benefitted from the shift, with Nate Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC) shooting to stardom via his pair of blockbuster fights with McGregor (20-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC). When the dust settles from the Irish champ’s super fight with Alvarez (28-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC), Melendez expects that fortune will hold.

“(Diaz) is a natural 155-pounder … and I think he fights the winner,” the former Strikeforce champion said. “There’s all these tough guys, but really, we’re talking about business here and how things work. It’s like, Eddie wins that fight, and I think Nate gets that fight. Conor wins that fight, and I think Nate gets that fight, as well.”

As a lightweight, Diaz’s record is at best uneven. He’s been beaten by two generations of top contenders at lightweight and struggled in his first move up to welterweight. But his resume is counterbalanced by a fan-friendly style and brash disposition that helped drive UFC 196 and UFC 202 to record numbers for the UFC.

According to Melendez, a Diaz title shot is “what people want to see, and that’s what fills the seats.”

Check out the above video to get Melendez’s thoughts on the lightweight division, his future and his wife Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez’s burgeoning MMA career.

On March 19, 2011, 23-year-old Jon Jones brutalized UFC light heavyweight champion “Shogun” Rua to become the youngest titleholder in UFC history. But for Jones, it was only the start of a wild ride that at times spun out of control.